Part 1: Community & Ceremony- Fitting it into an Already Full Summer
It is the summer of 2023 and I just hosted a summer solstice event, a ceremony held in my office, with 2 other people in person and one joined on Zoom- a hybrid ceremony. It was beautiful and wonderful and a good reminder to keep on offering these community events, to connect, to reflect, to celebrate, and to take a pause together.
From this event I learned that I can totally host at least 6 people in person in my beautiful office- it felt like we were outside as we watched the full green trees and birds outside the window, as the owl perched in the rafters off of the balcony- we just didn’t have to be in the high winds that were happening during our ceremony! We had the best of both worlds- mother nature just outside and the magic of community inside with one other on Zoom.
The three beautiful humans who were able to join this ceremony are those who I have known for a long time, and it was unexpected that the 3 of them came together. It was exactly who was meant to be there! They all did not know each other, and we came together with the intention of ceremony, community, celebrating the season of summer and the cycles of the earth, and gave ourselves permission to pause and be in community, in a circle of trust.
As we celebrated and shared around the circle, the common themes came through right away, like mothering at different stages of life, taking time for self-reflection and acknowledging the change of seasons. We all were grateful to be in this space together (gratitude for the circle always comes up after these ceremonies). We even spoke how the summer solstice doesn’t always get celebrated because summer is so busy and schedules are out of routine, yet we all appreciated the time spent pausing together and celebrating, dancing, laughing and reflecting. (My family didn’t even have our summer solstice ceremony until a good week later due to rain and busy schedules!)
I invite you to look at the seasonal ceremonies and celebrations I host, the Reiki shares and the book clubs, to come together in community- to pause and honor the cycles of the earth, the seasons, and I bring in the traditional Irish traditions for ceremony, which is part of my ancestry. I’m hosting events throughout each month, including Be Rooted Q + A sessions, since the 9-month program begins in September.
I am grateful for the pandemic, how it taught me that I can build community on Zoom, that I can teach Reiki classes on Zoom, that people can truly connect in a way that is powerful, healing and fun- that friendships can even be made, and that we can practice together. Now that we are in person again, I can hold spaces in a hybrid format, for those who are not able to meet because of health issues or location.
I will continue to reflect on my journey in upcoming blogs, of holding space and bringing humans together in community- hopefully to inspire you to re-join or try out a ceremony or circle that I am hosting, as it is easy to forget the healing power of these circles.